The eighth annual meeting of G-NEXID was held at N'vY Hotel in Geneva on 11 June. In addition to electing a directing bank for the next four years, and an Honorary G-NEXID President - Rubens V. Amaral Jr., Chief Executive Officer of Bladex - the meeting focused on promoting South-South trade and investments, a key issue for G-NEXID.

The meeting paid tribute to Jean-Louis Ekra, President of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), who oversaw the network for the preceding four years.

Guillermo Valles, Director of UNCTAD's Division on International Trade in Goods and Services, and Commodities (DITC), officially opened the meeting on behalf of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD. He said that UNCTAD and G-NEXID had a firm commitment to promoting cooperation, as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding signed by UNCTAD and G-NEXID in September 2011. This cooperation was reinforced by the participation of G-NEXID at the UNCTAD XIII quadrennial conference held in April 2012.

Mr. Valles said that G-NEXID was a clear example of South-South cooperation - a topic that was at the centre of the Doha Mandate adopted at UNCTAD XIII. The General Assembly of the United Nations had clearly stated the need to explore innovative financing mechanisms that could help developing countries mobilize additional resources for financing for development. In that connection, eximbanks and development finance institutions had a crucial role to play. Mr. Valles added that the Network could provide a platform for innovative efforts to connect developing countries - particularly least developed countries - to national, regional and global value chains.

He welcomed the proposal to hold a joint meeting of Afreximbank, Bladex, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, and other members, which could contribute to strengthening cooperation between African and Latin American countries. Similar South-South initiatives could be envisaged under the umbrella of G-NEXID, he told the meeting.

Mr. Valles invited G-NEXID members to participate in the UNCTAD Trade and Development Commission session that is being held from 17 to 21 June, and in the sixtieth session of UNCTAD's Trade and Development Board that is scheduled for 16 to 27 September.

In his welcoming remarks, Mr. Ekra said that over the past four years as Honorary President of G-NEXID he had focused on several key issues:

Intensifying membership mobilization efforts to raise the global reach and presence of the Network.

Deepening cooperation among member institutions through networking, attachments, and the exchange of information on best practices.

Expanding activity under G-NEXID's technical capacity development programme by striving to organize at least two training workshops per year.

Creating an Internet-based platform for the sharing of risk and credit information.

Headquartered in Panama City, Bladex is a specialized supranational bank originally established by the central banks of Latin American and Caribbean countries to promote trade finance in the region.

The bank's mission is to provide seamless support to Latin America's foreign trade, while creating value for its stockholders. The bank is principally engaged in providing trade financing to selected commercial banks, middle-market companies, and corporations in the region.

A challenge for the newly appointed Honorary President of G-NEXID is to further South-South cooperation through eximbanks and development finance institutions. UNCTAD will continue to support the Network via active participation in G-NEXID activities and by backing G-NEXID's new management.

Participants at the eighth annual meeting of G-NEXID included representatives of Bladex, CAF-Development Bank of Latin America, Afreximbank, the Export-Import Bank of India, the Nigerian Export-Import Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China, the Saudi Fund for Development-Saudi Export Programme, the African Biofuel and Renewable Energy Company, UNCTAD, and the International Trade Centre.